Shoreline City Council member resigns

Linda Montgomery will resign from the Shoreline City Council by the end of the year.

Montgomery said in a Nov. 11 phone interview that she sent a letter to the City Council this week saying she will quit effective no later than Dec. 31.

Montgomery got married in August, and her husband lives in Dallas, Texas. “I’ve been travelling back and forth,” Montgomery said of her schedule for the past few months. “My plan is to move there permanently.”

Montgomery was elected to Shoreline’s first City Council in 1995 and is in the middle of her third term, which ends in 2005. Her resignation will require the City Council to select and appoint a replacement to finish serving her term.

Montgomery said in her resignation letter she recommends the Council take into consideration her re-election campaign in 2001 when selecting her replacement.

“I ask them to select someone who shares convictions I expressed very vocally in my campaign two years ago, and that voters endorsed – I won by a 60 percent margin. I feel there is an obligation to select someone who shares those views. But ultimately, it’s their decision,” Montgomery said.

The Council has a process in place to replace the vacancy, said City Manager Steve Burkett. The position will be advertised, and the public will be encouraged to apply for the position. Eligible applicants must be over 18, have lived in Shoreline for more than 30 days and be a registered voter. The City Council will interview applicants in an open public meeting and select the replacement to finish filling out Montgomery’s term.

The City Council will be asked to set a deadline for applications at its Nov. 17 meeting, Burkett said. Once the deadline has been set, applications will be available in the City Clerk’s office. The Council must also decide whether the current Council will make the selection before the end of the year, or if the Council will wait until the new year, when newly elected member Maggie Fimia will join the Council.

If the City Council can’t make a decision on who will replace Montgomery within 90 days, state law requires the Metro King County Council to make the appointment. If the County Council cannot do so, then the governor would step in.